Cuts made at IO Interactive

IO Interactive made the surprising announcement that they have cancelled all other projects that the developer had in development. The studio will be only focused on Hitman going forward, and because of this the developer has cut its staff in half.

The developer claims the decision was necessary for the studio to focus on the next version of Hitman in a changing market space. To that , IO has also taken the very bold and difficult step to cancel all other projects that the studio had in development; but other than a new Kane & Lynch title, it isn’t yet clear what else they were working on.

The studio is going to try to relocate staff if possible to other studios within the group. It isn’t clear how much of a role Square Enix played in this decision, but it is possible that IO’s IP could end up with another developer down the road; but in the meantime at least work on Hitman will continue. No official word yet on when we might expect the new Hitman title to be released.